Advocating for animals

Group celebrates anniversary, recent legislative victories

May 6, 2013

MARTINSBURG - All creatures great and small were welcomed with open arms Sunday at Poor House Farm Park as Animal Advocates of West Virginia celebrated its third year of being a voice for animal advocacy and its recent legislative victories.

Animal Advocates of West Virginia (AAWV) is a grassroots work group founded in 2010 that is comprised of citizens of the Eastern Panhandle. The group seeks to identify issues affecting animals and to create solutions through education and advocacy.

"We, basically, are the voice for animals, and we want to teach the community about humane education, how to treat animals, about puppy mills, about horse abuse and any type of abuse. This is a big celebration. This is our third year in existence, and we have many local rescue groups here that the public can come and familiarize themselves with," Cheryl Durst, chair of AAWV's legislative committee, said.

Article Photos

Journal photos by Edward MarshallAnimal lovers gather at Poor House Farm Park Sunday to celebrate all creatures great and small as part of a program hosted by Animal Advocates of West Virginia.

Rev. John Brooks, pastor of Berkeley Place and Friendship Methodist churches, blesses a Great Dane Sunday during a program hosted by Animal Advocates of West Virginia.

Sunday's event in Martinsburg gave the public a chance to meet with several local animal welfare and rescue organizations and also featured educational displays, animal adoption information, legislative updates, a K9 rescue demonstration and an animal blessing performed by Rev. John Brooks.

"Animal Advocates of West Virginia is an all volunteer organization. We are strictly grassroots. We feel that we can be another voice for animals," said AAWV's volunteer event coordinator, Judy Boykin. "Today, truly, is a celebration. It's just a great time of the year and it's great to have this many organizations get together and exchange good ideas."

One of the biggest victories the local advocacy group celebrated Sunday was the successful passage of SB437, a commercial breeder bill meant to crack down on puppy mills. The bill will regulate those who own 11 or more dogs for the exclusive purpose of breeding and mandates humane living conditions.

The bill includes other new regulations, such as requiring commercial breeders to obtain an annual permit and business license. Commercial breeders will also be subject to inspections twice each year.

AAWV members also celebrated the passage of SB202, which establishes the West Virginia Spay Neuter Assistance Program and Fund. The fund will issue grants to non-profit spay and neuter programs statewide.

Both Senate Majority Leader John Unger, D-Berkeley/Jefferson, and Delegate John Overington, R-Berkeley, were presented awards Sunday by the AAWV for their leadership in supporting and helping pass animal welfare-related legislation.

"You can judge the strength of a community by how they treat its most vulnerable. If West Virginia can be judged in this way, then we are leading the charge. That's in a large part thanks to each and every one of you for supporting the animal welfare advocates and supporting our local animal societies and shelters. It's because of you we are leading the way," Unger, who was one of the sponsors of SB437, said.

Overington was instrumental in helping get the new puppy mill regulation bill passed in the House of Delegates. During his more than two decades as a delegate, he has been among the Legislature's strongest supporters and advocates of legislation regarding animal welfare.

"I just want to say this is an issue that goes back for me actually over 25 years," Overington said.

One of the first bills Overington passed increased maximum fines for animal cruelty offenses from $100 to $1,000. He also recently helped make dogfighting a felony offense in West Virginia, a state that previously was the only state east of the Mississippi River that still treated dogfighting as a misdemeanor.

Overington thanked members of the AAWV and Summer Wyatt, West Virgina's state director for the Humane Society of the United States, for their advocacy.

"I think all of us have a special place for cats and dogs in our lives. I've enjoyed working with you folks and especially appreciated having Summer Wyatt in Charleston firsthand to go out and to make sure that as many legislators were aware of the concerns about our four-legged friends," Overington said.

AAWV members also presented the Greensburg Go-Getters 4-H Club with a Youth Humane Commitment Award. Each year, AAWV recognizes youth in the community who are involved and concerned with animal welfare in some way.

For the past several years, the Greensburg Go-Getters have supported the Berkeley County Humane Society through beautification projects, and each year they hold benefits to support animal welfare in the community.

Two members of the 4-H group, 12-year-old Keegan Miller and 13-year-old Brian Swanson, later posed for pictures with Unger and Overington after accepting the award with other members of the club.